Amherst teen laments area’s lack of jobs

All over the news channels and magazines, we hear about the country and its job crisis. But one thing no one, not even in D.C., seems to have noticed is that kids between the ages of 15 and 17 who would work for the minimum wage, normally as a busser at a restaurant or at a clothing store, are being replaced by college graduates and are unemployed because of it.

As a teen myself, I’ve applied to more jobs than I can count, and none with success. Normally, that would be everyone’s situation, but the thing I’ve noticed is that employers are increasing their age limit to 18, simply because they can.

Jobs used to be the way teens whose parents weren’t well enough off to pay for everything afforded a vehicle, earned spending money and paid for dates.

Not only that, but it provided us with a good work ethic before entering college, giving us a good foundation for when we begin a career.

They say that we are the future of America, so if we don’t have a good start in work, how can we deal with the debt that our fathers and our fathers’ fathers have left us?